What happens during Meeting for Worship?
Each participant in the meeting takes time to become quiet and center down: to open to the Spirit and experience the presence of God. This takes various amounts of time because the conscious mind likes to stay busy and be in control. Curing the meeting, a wide variety of experiences may occur – or nothing at all may seem to happen. Some may find themselves feeling restless, preoccupied with a current personal concern, or involved in an effort to perceive a sense of truth or a corporate concern that relates to the whole of the meeting.
Most people new to Quaker worship find that sitting in silence takes some practice. Almost all participants experience a deep inner peacefulness. For some this may feel like meditation, while others discover a deep, nonverbal communing with God.
When urged by an inner leading, a member or attender may feel moved to speak aloud to the meeting in vocal ministry. This is generally done in simple words; messages are often brief. All listen in silence, and after the speaker finishes there is more silence. There is no discussion or debate. Others may be stimulated by the previous vocal ministry to add to the concept, but before speaking each needs to remain with the silence for a time to discover if he or she truly has a deep inner leading to speak. Such responsive sharing comes only when a period of waiting has elapsed to let the original words season a while for all present.
Sometimes our meetings pass in total silence. Some individuals speak more often than others. And some members have never felt led to speak aloud in the meeting. Some unprogrammed meetings have frequent vocal ministry and some have much less. From meeting to meeting, the types of messages brought to the meeting will be different. Like all Quakers, all meetings are individual.
What do Quakers believe about the Bible and
about Jesus Christ?
Quakers believe that the personal leading of the Inner Light is the critical factor in how any individual comes to know God. Friends perceive that great problems arise when any person presses another to believe a specific doctrine verbatim. Because Quakers have no written creed to which all must subscribe, they have widely varying opinions about both the Bible and the nature of Jesus Christ.
Generally, Unprogrammed Quakers do not take the Bible to be literally true. Instead they see it as an important expression of how humankind has experienced and may relate to God, using the historical context and the nature of language and translation as clues to understanding its value.
Virtually all Quakers hold Jesus Christ in high esteem, but there is a variation in belief about his unique nature and his relationship to God.
Are Quakers Christian?
Historically, yes. Currently, with the divergent beliefs for Friends, some are clearly Christian while others would not consider themselves Christian in the strict religious sense. Many Quakers hold great respect for other world religions and study them thoughtfully.
Is there a “Quaker” political
orientation?
There is no “Quaker” political orientation, although the moral viewpoints of Quakers do have political implications. Because of the nearly uniform acceptance of the peace testimony, Quaker are opposed to war and the conditions that lead to war. As a result, they oppose moves by any political party towards preparation for war; at the same time, they actively oppose the injustice that is often the occasion for war. But Quakers have different opinions about how justice can be accomplished.
How do Quakers collect money and how is it
spent?
There is no offering or passing of a try during worship. Quakers believe that attending to the Inner Light will direct each individual to appropriately share resources with the Meeting. This principle relies on the moving of the Spirit of God and not the promptings of other persons.
About once a month, or as they are able, attenders and members privately give money to the Meeting treasurer. Funds contributed to the Wooster Meeting are automatically added to the general operating fund. Any special distributions for non-budgeted purposes are discussed and decided at Meeting for Business.
Each month the treasurer reports to the meeting about how money is being dispensed. Once a year the budget is agreed upon at Meeting for Business.
Currently our meeting supports a variety of projects both in our local community and abroad. Individuals also support activities with which they are especially concerned. We do not value expending money on ornate buildings or fixtures; simplicity is our guide. No member receives any money for services rendered.
What relevance do plain clothes and plain
speech have today?
During part of their history, Quakers wore plain clothes (durable, serviceable and relatively undecorated garments) and used plain speech (preserving the thee and thou of early social equality and protest). These practices persist among a few Quaker groups, but are generally no longer observed. However, Quakers do generally refrain from ostentation in their homes, cars and clothing, often choosing instead to provide money for causes that foster peace and justice. However, this is an individual matter, determined by each person’s leading by the Inner Light.
What is the difference between an attender and a member? How does one become a member?
Everyone who comes to meeting is an attender. After a time of attending, any individual who wishes to formalize his or her relationship with the meeting may begin the membership process. Anyone who is considering membership is invited to talk about this step with members of the Ministry and Oversight committee. And that committee forms a clearness committee, consisting of several members of the meeting. The clearness committee meets with the applicant to determine whether he or she is clear in seeking and understanding Quaker membership.
If the delegated committee and the individual together reach clearness that membership is an appropriate step for the individual to take, the committee makes a recommendation to this effect to the Ministry and Oversight committee and to the Meeting for Business, agreement is reached, the individual is read into the meeting and becomes a member.
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